The story of Pemba (no, not Pemba Island)
At the beginning of expedition 114 a newborn male baby Sykes monkey was found by GVI volunteers on the floor of the Shimoni Forest. The monkey was believed to have fallen from a tree due to bad weather experienced the night before. The monkey was taken back to the GVI house and the Colobus Trust in Diani was contacted to collect the monkey. While waiting for the Colobus Trust to arrive the volunteers eagerly looked after this little monkey feeding him bananas and baby food which he ate eagerly and eventually fell asleep with a banana all over his little face. He was collected later that day by the Colobus Trust to be raised and rehabilitated.
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| Introducing Pemba |
It had been 6 weeks since this little monkey had been found and the volunteers were impatient to know if he was still alive and well. On a weekend trip to Diani 4 volunteers including myself went to the Colobus Trust to see the little guy and to our surprise were greeted by a volunteer at the Trust who had him in a sling. They had named him Pemba, after Pemba Island in Tanzania. He was still so little but healthy and happy and doing very well. He was very inquisitive and jumping around wanting to know what was happening and who we were. The volunteer who looks after him 24/7 took us outside to an enclosure with two 6 month old Vervet monkeys who were his play mates; we were also told his best friend is a baby Bush Baby. It was his second day in the enclosure and he was still struggling to climb and jump on the small branches but was trying so hard to do so. He was also jumping on the backs of his Vervet friends and having a great play date with them.
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| Who are all these persons that are looking at me? |
After seeing Pemba we had a look around the Colobus Trust and saw all the great work that they were doing with Colobus, Sykes and Vervet monkeys. It was a wonderful experience and great to see that the little Sykes monkey from the Shimoni Forest saved by GVI volunteers was doing so well.
Text and pictures: Maria Swenson
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